Whiteness Makes the Laughs Possible: A Sitcom’s Representations of Sexual Violence

Abstract

The award winning, Netflix comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019) broke new ground in representations of sexual violence. Recalibrating the energies of the sitcom to address issues of trauma, memory and witnessing, Unbreakable has helped craft a new esthetic of the genre. The four-season series replicates key features of the historical captivity narrative and the contemporaneous #MeToo movement. Ignoring the slave narrative of captivity and dispossession allows the series to sidestep the racialized dimensions of sexual assault. The narrative’s resolute focus on white survivors permits the series to mobilize trauma for comedic effect.